At least ten dead in a new migration tragedy off Lampedusa coast

Archive – A patrol boat with migrants rescued in Italy. – VALERIA FERRARO / ZUMA PRESS / CONTACTOPHOTO

Italian emergency services have located in a boat with migrants and refugees the lifeless bodies of eight people who died of cold during the crossing, including a woman in an advanced state of pregnancy, according to the accounts of the survivors themselves, who have reported two others missing, including a newborn baby.

The boat has been located by the harbor master’s office just over 40 miles from the island. Inside, the bodies of five men and three women were found, according to local authorities, who are now trying to reconstruct what happened.

Survivors have also claimed that one of the dead women threw her newborn child into the sea after it froze to death, and that another man disappeared after jumping overboard, according to sources quoted by the AdnKronos agency.

The mayor of Lampedusa, Filippo Mannino, has implored the government of Giorgia Melonni not to leave them “alone” to “manage this great tragedy”. The island is one of the main destination points for the small boats that set sail from North Africa for the coasts of southern Europe.

In the central Mediterranean alone 55 people have died so far this year, according to estimates by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The year 2022 closed with at least 1,385 fatalities in this same area, although the real figure would be higher given that there are cases that are never recorded.

Source: (EUROPA PRESS)